Eight-try Leigh pile misery on out-of-form Saints

Betfred Super League

Leigh (24) 46

Tries: Hanley, Amone, McIntosh, O’Donnell, Charnley, Lam, Moylan Goals: McIntosh 7

St Helens (0) 4

Tries: Davies

Leigh Leopards sealed a comfortable win to consign St Helens to a fifth consecutive Super League defeat.

The hosts raced ahead after Mark Percival saw yellow for a high tackle on Matt Moylan, as Umyla Hanley, Tom Amone and Darnell McIntosh crossed soon after.

Kai O’Donnell added a fourth Leopards try before the break but Saints hit back through Ben Davies’ score upon their return.

Josh Charnley added a fifth for Leigh after Jonny Lomax was sent to the bin, with Lachlan Lam, Moylan and a second from Charnley adding to the rout late on.

The result means Leigh remain in eighth position in the Super League table but claw down the gap to seventh-placed Leeds to three points, while fourth-placed St Helens lose further ground at the top of the standings.

Saints were reduced to 12 when Percival was judged to have gone in high on Moylan with a quarter of an hour gone, and Leigh did not take long to take advantage.

Hanley dived in at the corner to send them ahead and Amone added to their tally soon after, having worked onto Robbie Mulhern’s offload.

McIntosh matched his fine work with the boot with a try of his own, having latched onto Moylan’s cross-field kick, and O’Donnell capped off a miserable first half for Saints when he ran in with seconds of the half remaining.

St Helens’ response in the second half came after Waqa Blake stripped the ball back for the visitors, kicking into space for Davies to touch down.

An ill-disciplined night for Saints continued as Lomax was shown a yellow card for a tackle on O’Brien before the hour mark, leading to Charnley going in as Saints scrambled to defend.

Another Leigh try followed shortly after, this time as Lam ran in from 20 metres, with Moylan running in on the left and Charnley diving at the corner to wrap up a thumping victory.

Saints’ miserable night at the Leigh Sport Village means their most recent victory came against struggling London Broncos on 16 June and their performance will give boss Paul Wellens pause for thought as they aim for a play-off place.

Leigh head coach Adrian Lam:

“We’re very, very pleased, very happy. We’ve been on the wrong side of the scoreboard against Saints on a lot of occasions but today our attack was unbelievable and we nailed the physical side of the game.

“We probably left four or five tries out on the field too. Days like this don’t come around too often.

“We’re proud but we know we still have to work hard.”

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens:

“I feel pressure in the sense that I’m desperate for us to win games and get back on the horse, but I don’t get too caught up in the external noise that’s around me.

“I’m not the most important thing here, it’s the playing group. I want to continue to work hard every day to try and help these players grow and improve.

“It’s a very challenging period that we’re going through but I’ve been through similar periods as a player, and I know that you only get through them by continuing to work hard and continuing to stick together.

“I know and I accept that there will be a lot of frustrated people out there who won’t be happy that we’re not winning games at the moment. Certainly, the manner of defeats won’t please them.

“I have to accept that and continue to work hard to try and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Leigh: Moylan; Charnley, Leutele, Hanley, McIntosh; O’Brien, Lam; Amone, Ipape, Mulhern, O’Donnell, Halton, Asiata.

Interchanges: Pene, Trout, Hughes, Dwyer.

St Helens: Robertson; Makinson, Davies, Percival, Blake; Welsby, Lomax; Delaney, Clark, Lees, Sironen, Bell, Paasi.

Interchanges: Mbye, Whitley, Vaughan, Stephens.

Referee: Aaron Moore.